Four new Manchester police officers were sworn in Tuesday in a ceremony held at the Manchester Police Athletic League. From left are, Ryan Boynton, 26, Matthew Brown, 22, Raymond J. Lamy, 45, and Matthew J. McDonald, 25. (Pat Grossmith/Union Leader)

Four new Manchester police officers sworn in

By PAT GROSSMITHNew Hampshire Union Leader

MANCHESTER - Four new police officers were sworn in Tuesday morning at a ceremony at the headquarters of the Manchester Police Athletic League.

Chief David Mara said in introducing the officers they were selected after successfully passing written, physical, psychological and medical examinations and several interviews, the last with him.

In welcoming the new recruits to the force, Mara explained that being a police officer is not just a job. "It's a calling," he said. Officers are the ones who run toward danger, not from it.

"That's a special kind of person who does that," Mara said.

And while it's important to get dangerous people off the street, he said the department wants its officers to set the example for the community, to be that person who reaches out to that mentally ill or elderly person who hasn't spoken to anyone in a week and who is lonely.

The city's newest officers are:

Ryan J. Boynton, 26, who grew up in Florida and is a graduate of Dunedin (Fla.) High School, Class of 2005. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice from Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., in 2009.

He most recently was a police officer with the Douglasville, Ga. Police Department. He and his wife Staci are expecting their first child soon.

Matthew G. Brown, 22, is a graduate of Manchester Memorial High School, Class of 2009. He earned an associate's degree in criminal justice in 2011 from New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord and a bachelor of science degree in finance and economics this year from Southern New Hampshire University.

He most recently was employed as a security officer at both St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua and Allied Barton in Londonderry.

Raymond J. Lamy, 45, resides in Hooksett, but spent his younger years in Bedford. He was graduated from Manchester West High School, Class of 1985, and earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of New Hampshire in Durham in 1989.

He was recently employed as a branch manager with Citizens Bank and as a part-time police officer in Litchfield. His father, the late Raymond Lamy, was a Manchester police officer from 1956 to 1961.

Lamy and his wife, Lori, have two children, Elizabeth and Sarah.

Matthew J. McDonald, 25, grew up in Arlington, Mass. He is a 2007 graduate of Arlington Catholic High School and earned a bachelor of arts degree in history, with a minor in medieval studies, from St. Anselm College in Manchester in 2011. He is currently enrolled online at the University of Cincinnati studying toward a master's degree in criminal justice.

He most recently was employed as a program coordinator and AmeriCorps intern through St. Anselm College. During his time with AmeriCorps, he served as a construction supervisor for Operation Helping Hands in New Orleans and as an academic success coordinator for Boys' Hope/Girls' Hope of Greater New Orleans.

McDonald serves with the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves, assigned to Otis Air Force Base in Cape Cod, Mass.